Believe it or not, Creative Loafing Tampa's 5 p.m. phone call with Chris Thile caught the Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers star clocking out for the day. Apparently the last year as the new host of A Prairie Home Companion (or maybe it was Faulkner) has inspired a new way to approach creativity.
"I've kind of adopted a 9-to-5 approach to developing new music — I'm enjoying it greatly," Thile, 36, said during a conversation in advance of his highly anticipated show at Tampa's Straz Center. The high-energy former child prodigy is a bona fide musical savant, and even once got paid $500,000 for being a genius, but he cited the American writer and Nobel Prize laureate as his motivation to adopt a new workflow.
"He was asked about writer's block," Thile explained, "and he said, 'Oh yes, definitely, I can only write when I'm inspired. Thankfully I'm inspired every morning at 9 a.m.,' and I think I've always felt that way a little bit."
"Like, it's not, you don't, if you wait around for the bolt of lightning, you're just not gonna be doing that much work, and also I feel like lightning strikes lightning rods more often than just hits the ground or whatever. And, um, so you just gotta be sitting there working on your lightning rod if nothing else. You have to be encouraging that bolt of lightning to strike by building that lightning rod as high as you possibly can, and damned if I don't find that when you are sitting there working on something you are just sitting there inviting lightning to strike as opposed to sitting there."
It's an appropriate analogy, and one we're not surprised to hear coming from the mouth of one of music's most gifted, and humble, young minds. Our short chat was peppered with humor, fawning for another upcoming songwriter (Julien Baker), some bits about privilege, A Prairie Home Companion's place on public radio and more.
Thile — who is releasing a new album on December 8 (Thanks For Listening, due via Nonesuch) — even told us who's on his collaboration wish list.
Read our Q&A below, and get more information on the show via local.cltampa.com.
Hey how's it going, man?
I'm alright Chris, how are you?
Very well, thank you. Just walking home from a day's work.
Walking home at 5 p.m.?
Yes, indeed.
That is something that I didn't expect to hear.
Yeah, I've kind of adopted a 9-to-5 approach to developing new music — I'm enjoying it greatly.
Are you messing with me right now?
I am not.
That's pretty cool because I was gonna ask you a question about how busy you were, but apparently you've found a way to shorten your day and keep the creative juices flowing, so that's cool.
Yeah, I got really inspired by this, um, a Faulkner quote. You know, the great author. He was asked about writer's block, and he said, "Oh yes, definitely, I can only write when I'm inspired. Thankfully I'm inspired every morning at 9 a.m.," and that kind of, I think I've always felt that way a little bit. Like, it's not, you don't, if you wait around for the bolt of lightning, you're just not gonna be doing that much work, and also I feel like lightning strikes lightning rods more often than just hits the ground or whatever. And, um, so you just gotta be sitting there working on your lightning rod if nothing else.
You have to be encouraging that bolt of lightning to strike by building that lightning rod as high as you possibly can, and damned if I don't find that when you are sitting there working on something you are just sitting there inviting lightning to strike as opposed to sitting there going, "Well, I just don't have anything, so I'm not gonna work," like, "I don't have anything, so I don't have anything to work on." I think that, totally, I've been that guy before, I've been that guy, like, "I just don't have anything," but then that's exactly when you start making it. It doesn't matter how bad it is — just go to work on it, and see what happens.
Right on, I like it. So are you on your way to have some Amaro — is that what people are buying you when they see you at the bar these days?
Haha. I love that idea. No, I'm meeting my wife and little boy for dinner.
Oh, that's awesome. That's really cool. Man, you really threw me off because I had these questions about you being busy and how you handle it.
Oh, I'm definitely busy, haha. Definitely busy.
So, Chris Stapleton was the hold music just now. I was wondering if he and Julien Baker ended up exchanging contact info?
Oh, he and Julien Baker? I guess it's possible. After the performance, you know Chris had already gone off to his gig, Julien and I were talking and she was like, "Hey, I actually have to go. I'm gonna go to Chris's gig," so either she was already going or he was like, "Hey, I'll put you on the list."
Nice, you made it happen.
I don't know. It makes me so happy that maybe those two extraordinary musicians met while they were on my show.
Yeah, I totally read that in another interview you did. You’re obviously thrilled that a talent like Julien has arrived for us to enjoy, and she’s about to go on a pretty great journey with Matador. Do you offer advice to young artists when they come on the program, especially someone like Julien who has a similar past to yours, musically and otherwise?
Right, you know, one of the things we talked about was the difficulties of eating, um…
Healthy.
…eating anything remotely healthy on tour. We talked about the importance of the Cliff Bar. Man, but I found myself going all old man her, like, (switches to Chris Thile old man voice) "I can remember touring back in the day before Whole Foods," which I just caught myself mid-rant.
That's awesome.
It was great to have her on the show, and I love that aspect of the show, um, you know, certainly courting some high, kind of ultra-high profile talent, but then also, well now Julien is, uh, hardly low profile.
She's on her way.
Yes, she is, she is on her way to high profile, but I think a lot of folks listening, that was their introduction to her. Certainly if a bunch of Chris Stapleton fans tuned it, not a lot of them would know who Julien was, so that's a real thrill. But then also, man, just the energy that kind of thing creates…
What, like the stillness?
These two ostensibly different kinds of artists coming onto your show, and you throw a comedian into the mix, and it gets pretty exciting out there.
So, God, I think I only have one or two more questions. Don't take this the wrong way because I think you're awesome, but do you ever read the “We want Garrison back” hate mail — if so, what does it read like? That guy from Kansas Public Radio made me mad.
Oh, oh, wait, was that a fella.
That was Darrell Brogdon, he said you had too much energy.
Oh, right.
We don't have to talk about him — I was just wondering if you read the mail.
Oh no, it's fine. I don't mind at all. I think it's kind of impossible to avoid some of that stuff. For instance, that quote, I didn't read it — someone told me that, and, you know, someone who was kind of incensed on my behalf, and I'm like, "He's probably right."
No way dude.
Or I understand what he's getting at.
No, he's wrong. You're a breath of fresh air on that show.
Thank you, but I can understand where he's coming from. If he loved the pace of the old show, then the pace of this one might seem kind of manic to him. I loved the pace of the old show, but boy that pace would, people would read that pace as insincere coming from me.
100 percent.
People are pretty good at detecting artifice, and so, you know, I'm kind of a high strung guy, so the show will probably be a little high strung.
No pun intended.
Well God, oh Jesus, sorry. Haha.
There will be no Chris Thile pun headlines, I promise. So I think someone is gonna come on the phone and tell us we have two minutes left, so I wanted to ask this question. I totally get that Public Radio really appeals to a more affluent, educated demographic — and your music-based approach is certainly doing a lot to attract a younger audience with broader tastes, I'd love to see data on the ticket sales — but do you ever wish think or wish that A Prairie Home Companion would be able to try harder to reach a less privileged audience with skits and stories about different subject matter? Is that too much of an occasional pivot to think about considering that you're just now getting the show off the ground?
Oh man, God, I hear that question loud and clear, and it resonates with me. I, you know, I wish that we were all talkin' to each other more. I wish that we were all just hanging out shooting the shit on a more regular basis — I really do. I think if we were able to do that, um, I see no reason why we can't do that on the show.
You know, it's, um, it's an issue that public radio has and has been attempting to address for a long time, I think, and I think that probably strides are being made, hopefully. You know, two steps forward, one step back, and I would love for Prairie Home to be a part of that. You know, of what I hope is progress as far as just encouraging a very broad sense of community from the Northeast to the Southeast, the four corners of the U.S., you know from the Northwest to the Southwest, I would love to feel like we were all hanging out, talking about this stuff, being respectful of others opinions, not glossing over our own. Again, not being insincere, people, again are so good at detecting artifice, or they're so sensitive to being pandered, too as well.
So, you know, you gotta do, yeah, you gotta do your thing, but you also have to recognize the validity of other people doing their thing, and I think the most interesting art/entertainment comes from the collision of various good people doing their thing. You know, good, earnest, hardworking people doing their thing, and so that's certainly the environment I would like to create with A Prairie Home Companion.
That's awesome. On your upcoming album you’re flanked by musicians who’ve played with The National (Bartlett), Andrew Bird (Ted Poor, Alan Hampton), and you could sense your appreciation for the Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard in your birthday songs segment. Howard gets to play someone else in bands like Thunderbitch and do other side things — who’s on your collaboration wish list and what kinds of non Chris Thile sounding things do you want to explore whether in private or on record?
Well two guys, a couple people right at the top of my collaboration wish list, and they've been there for a long time now. I feel like I…
Don't say Thom.
Well, of course.
He should be calling you.
Mr. Yorke is at the top of that list. I'm obsessed with Kendrick Lamar — I would love to hang with that guy at some point and see how his mind works. You know, I would love to hang out with Björk at some point to see what her thing is all about. There are so many great ones out there. I should have a ready made, really great answer, but I feel like I keep on rambling on with a list of all the people.
I couldn't find one online, so I had to ask. I hope you enjoy your dinner with your family, and I enjoy the energy you bring to the show. I hope that you don't get to down on some of the stuff that some people say because I certainly appreciate what you do.
Oh my god, thank you.
Cheers, have a good night.
Thanks very much, byeee.
This article appears in Oct 5-12, 2017.